Galaxy S8: What the leaks tell us Samsung could announce

Big reveal

What will Samsung's next flagship phones feature? Well, thanks to several reports and leaks and rumors and teases, we know pretty much all there is to know. Of course, nothing is confirmed until Samsung makes things official at the end of March during its Galaxy Unpacked event. Until then, here's the current state of speculation regarding the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus.

Published: March 15, 2017 -- 15:43 GMT (08:43 PDT)

Photo by: Samsung

Caption by: Jake Smith

Availability

Samsung has confirmed its next Galaxy Unpacked event will be held on March 29. The Galaxy S8 and and Galaxy S8 Plus are expected to debut at that event. According to leaker Ricciolo, the devices should go on sale sometime between April 24 and April 28. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said they will hit store shelves April 21, though VentureBeat claimed they won't arrive until April 28.

Published: March 15, 2017 -- 15:43 GMT (08:43 PDT)

Photo by: Evleaks

Caption by: Jake Smith

Pricing

SamMobile reported the Galaxy S8 will cost around $950 and come in black, gold, and orchid grey (analyst Kuo said the devices will come in seven colors), while the larger Galaxy S8 Plus will cost around $1050.

Published: March 15, 2017 -- 15:43 GMT (08:43 PDT)

Photo by: Slashleaks

Caption by: Jake Smith

Ditching the bezel

Leaker Evan Blass said the Galaxy S8 will have a 5.8-inch screen, and as did BGR. The Galaxy S8 Plus has been rumored to increase its display size to a 6.2-inch screen. A leaked spec sheet leaked by Blass also claimed the S8 Plus will have a 6.2-inch display at full rectangle.

Cameras

A leak from Weibo suggested the Galaxy S8 will offer dual rear cameras (12MP and 13MP). But ET News said the front camera will be 8MP, while a leak from Tech Update claimed the Galaxy S8 will have a 9MP front camera with a 30MP rear camera. Meanwhile, there has been a claim from The Guardian suggesting the Galaxy S8 will have the Duo Pixel camera from the Galaxy S7.

VentureBeat said the phones' rear camera will feature a 12MP rear camera with an f/1.7 aperture and a new visual search tool, and their front camera will have an 8MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture. This report has also been verified by BGR.

Published: March 15, 2017 -- 15:43 GMT (08:43 PDT)

Photo by: VentureBeat / Evan Blass

Caption by: Jake Smith

Specs

Both phones are expected to feature the same hardware, except for a difference in batteries. Ice Universe claimed they will have 8GB of RAM, but Tech Update reported they'll sport a 6GB of RAM and a 3.2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 835 chip. A Phone Arena leak listed two processors: Exynos 8895 chip and the Snapdragon 835. It also listed 6GB and 8GB of RAM. But VentureBeat said the Galaxy S8 will have 4GB of RAM with internal storage options starting from 64GB.

Published: March 15, 2017 -- 15:43 GMT (08:43 PDT)

Photo by: Slashleaks

Caption by: Jake Smith

A button for AI

The Wall Street Journal said the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus will have a dedicated side button, which will launch the Viv-based assistant that's already been confirmed by Samsung. VentureBeat also suggested this button will appear, which was followed by a tweet from leaker Blass, who showed off what looks like a press shot. BGR even posted pictures that depict the button. This assistant is thought to be called Bixby. According to a SamMobile, Bixby will be used in almost all the native apps that will come pre-installed.

Software

Leaked screenshots, spotted inside the APK of the latest version of Samsung's Smart Switch application, have revealed the smartphones will likely run Android 7.0 Nougat and sport a clean UI with the Samsung Experience skin on top.